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NDP keep feeding the fire

There’s nothing that political commentator Ezra Levant seems to thrive on more than being at the centre of a spectacle, which is like oxygen to his fire.

There’s nothing that political commentator Ezra Levant seems to thrive on more than being at the centre of a spectacle, which is like oxygen to his fire. So it was Christmas come early for Levant, then, when the Alberta government decided to block Rebel correspondent Sheila Gunn Reid from covering a recent joint news conference with the premier and prime minister.

The government responded that Levant and those who were connected to him were not journalists and “are not entitled to access media lockups or other such events” and in doing so, stirred a backlash for trying to be the ones to determine which media sources were allowed to hold the government to account.

The NDP has been in power for coming up on a year now and the rookie mistakes that might have been overlooked in its first few weeks in government are unseemly and embarrassing now. The Rebel Media has been highly critical of the NDP government, so the government’s move to block its reporting came off as an arrogant and petty way to withhold access.

After facing down criticism for the move, including a scathing Globe and Mail editorial that called the government’s move “beyond deplorable,” the NDP backtracked and admitted it made a mistake, beginning a review of the government’s media policies. But as the Globe and Mail editorial noted, the NDP government seemed to be taking more notes from Stephen Harper’s leadership style than that of Justin Trudeau, blocking reporters and questions it doesn’t like. It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how dictatorial this appears.

The Rebel media offers decidedly slanted conservative coverage and is not everyone’s cup of tea. However, lines are being blurred everyday with the proliferation of online news outlets like Vice, Buzzfeed, the Huffington Post or rabble.ca, each having their own bent. It’s not up to the government to decide which of these is an acceptable news source – that decision lies in the critical faculties of readers.

Whether or not The Rebel qualifies as journalism, moves like this will ensure the NDP government keep feeding the oxygen for the fire of opponents such as Levant.




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